Board game apparatus and method of play

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises a board game for teaching basic arithmetic and mathematical operations (such as addition and subtraction) to children in need of such skills. The game board includes a continuous playing path having a series of playing positions there along, with each of the positions requiring a player to roll combinations of polyhedral dice and using mathematical operations to achieve a score for each turn along the playing path. Play proceeds as described above until a predetermined total amount of points is achieved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to games involving elements of chance and more particularly to a board game for teaching basic arithmetic and mathematical skills namely addition and subtraction and to children.

2. Prior Art

Teachers and many parents are confronted with the task of teaching basic mathematical skills to children. Prior to the conception and development of the present invention, children can become bored by conventional means of teaching math skills, such as addition and subtraction. Conventional methods of teaching these basic mathematical skills have limitations. Flash cards would be one example. Young children often regard learning exercises as a task devoid of fun, and as a result often lose interest in such exercises after a relatively short time.

Furthermore, when a child is very young his or her attention span may be limited with respect to learning tasks but be far greater with respect to games and the fun associated with playing games. Games of all sorts have been devised to amuse the students while at the same time educate them and help them practice their skills in an interesting way. The present invention seeks to add an element of fun to the task of teaching and learning addition and subtraction.

Dice games have been around for many years. Popular dice games include, but are not limited to, “craps”, baccarat, YAHTZEE™ and others. Known dice games have one or more shortcomings. Most known dice games are either too complicated for players to understand and/or fail to provide enough excitement to keep a player's interest. What is needed in the art is a simple dice game, which generates and maintains a player's interest and provides hours of enjoyment while providing educational benefits.

Dice throwing games are widely known in the prior art and include a variety of combinations of rules, scoring, and game apparatuses. Several dice throwing games and apparatuses have been patented.

There are many mathematical instruction games involving dice. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,729,023, Andrews teaches a dice game where covers are slid over numbers that correspond to the numerals indicated by the dice or the sum of the two dice. Numerous dice math games involve use of a special die with operation symbols on them, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,168; U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,588; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,381. Another is U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,290, which teaches arithmetic dice game for two players with a dice “popper” dome for numerical dice and an operant die. If the player answers the problem posed by the dice correctly, he or she get to place a peg in a hole on a 12 by 12 array that corresponds to the numbers appearing. The one to first place all of his or her pegs is the winner. U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,893 uses dodecahedron dice to form mathematical problems and solutions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,704 uses a plurality of dice but they are all six-sided and incorporate a bonus dice that double or triples the amount of points scored in a given turn. U.S. Pat. No. 6,786,485 also teaches a mathematical dice game involving numbered dice and an operant die.

REFERENCES CITED

US Patent Documents Patentee Issue Date 7,862,337 Panicali January 2011 7,815,191 Fanning October 2010 6,811,402 Ritchie November 2004 6,786,485 Frieman September 2004 6,341,779 Merritt January 2002 6,089,871 Jaffe July 2000 5,772,209 Thompson June 1998 5,649,704 Dobbin July 1997 5,176,381 Winters January 1993 4,452,588 Smith June 1984 4,114,290 Cooper September 1978 3,959,893 Sigg June 1976 3,314,168 Heckman April 1967 1,729,023 Andrews September 1929

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses some of the difficulties and problems discussed above by the discovery of an improved dice game, which is simple to learn and play. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a new dice game. The present invention is further directed to a method of playing the new dice game and the game board for which it is played on.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and provide a novel and entertaining mathematical board game for all ages.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a mathematical board game, which is non-threatening to players so that they will become comfortable with mathematical concepts in the future.

DRAWINGS Figures

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the game board, showing my new design, in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows the symbols used to represent the polyhedral dice and all other symbols used in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the game board, labeled using the following reference numerals.

FIG. 10 is the top plan view of the game board.

FIG. 12 is the image of the four-sided dice as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 14 is the image of the six-sided dice as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 16 is the image of the eight-sided dice as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 18 is the image of the ten-sided dice as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 20 is the image of the twelve-sided dice as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 22 is the image of the twenty-sided dice as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 24 is the image of the random chance symbol as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 26 is the image of the addition mathematical symbol as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 28 is the image of the subtraction mathematical symbol as pictured on the game board.

FIG. 30 is the image of the rules box explaining the procedures of a player landing on the random chance space as pictured on the game board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The game comprises a board having a continuous playing path, which is divided into a plurality of playing positions. Each position contains images of polyhedral dice and mathematical operator symbols, which instruct players in the combinations of dice to be rolled in order to obtain a score for each individual turn. Upon calculating the score for each turn the player increases or decreases their overall score by that point total. The game is ended when a player achieves a predetermined total amount of points.

To start the game, each player rolls two standard six-sided dice. Typically, the player with the highest number begins. The order of the remaining players' turns may be determined by their rolled numbers or other agreed order, e.g., rotating toward the right of the starting player. The starting player rolls the two standard six-sided dice again, moving the number of spaces required by that roll along the game board (10). The player then follows the instructions pictured on the space they arrive at and rolls the combination of polyhedral dice pictured on that space and performs the mathematical operations needed to calculate the amount of points they achieve for that turn. The player then adds or deducts the amount of point from their overall score.

Examples of instructions on the individual spaces may included but are not limited to, the following:

-   -   1. Roll the four-sided die (12) and the six-sided die (14) and         add (26) the sum of these dice to overall score.     -   2. Roll the eight-sided die (16) and the ten-sided die (18) and         add the sum of these dice to overall score.     -   3. Roll the twelve-sided die (20) and add the result to overall         score.     -   4. Roll the four-sided die, six-sided die and the ten-sided die         and add the sum of these dice to overall score.     -   5. Roll the twenty-sided die (22) and add the result to overall         score.     -   6. Roll the four-sided die, six-sided die and the eight-sided         die and add the sum of these dice to overall score.     -   7. Roll the six-sided die twice and the eight-sided die and add         the sum of these dice to overall score.     -   8. Roll the four-sided die twice and the twelve-sided die and         add the sum of these dice from the overall score.     -   9. Roll the ten-sided die and subtract (28) the result from         overall score.     -   10. Roll the four-sided die twice and the ten-sided die and add         the sum of these dice from the overall score.     -   11. Roll the four-sided die twice and the eight-sided die and         add the sum of these dice from the overall score.     -   12. Roll the four-sided die and the eight-sided die twice and         add the sum of these dice from the overall score.     -   13. Roll the four-sided die and the six-sided die twice and add         the sum of these dice from the overall score.     -   14. Roll the twelve-sided die and subtract the result from         overall score.     -   15. Roll the six-sided die and the eight-sided die and add the         together and subtract the result from overall score.

The game board (10) shall have four ‘random chance’ spaces (24) symbolized by a large question mark. Upon landing on one of these spaces, a player will roll the twelve-sided die and will take action (30) based on the result.

If a player rolls the number one, they will have to move forward one space.

If a player rolls the number two, they will have to move back one space.

If a player rolls the number three, they will have to move forward two spaces.

If a player rolls the number four, they will have to move back two spaces.

If a player rolls the number five, they will roll the four-sided die twice and the six-sided die then add those results together and add the amount to their overall score.

If a player rolls the number six, they will roll the four-sided die twice and the eight-sided die then add those results together and add the amount to their overall score.

If a player rolls the number seven, they will roll the four-sided die and the six-sided die twice then add those results together and add the amount to their overall score.

If a player rolls the number eight, they will roll the four-sided die, the six-sided die and eight-sided die then add those results together and add the amount to their overall score.

If a player rolls the number nine, they will roll the six-sided die twice then add those results together and add the amount to their overall score.

If a player rolls the number ten, they will roll the eight-sided die twice then add those results together and add the amount to their overall score.

If a player rolls the number eleven, they will roll the ten-sided die twice then add those results together and add the amount to their overall score.

If a player rolls the number twelve they will roll the twenty-sided die and add the result to their overall score.

Each turn players will add or deduct points from their overall score based on each turn they take until a predetermined score of three hundred points is achieved. However, players can choose the final tally they desire for a target amount of points to achieve in order to win the game before the game begins.

In summary, the present board game will be seen to provide a most enjoyable means of teaching children and others who have poor arithmetic and basic numerical skills, the rudiments of such skills. The game enable players of virtually any skill level to sharpen their arithmetic and mathematical skills, while still enjoying a pleasant, competitive board game.

CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it should be understood to those skilled in the art that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Accordingly, the scope should be determined not by the embodiment illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. 

1. A board game for a plurality of players comprising: (a) A game board having a continuous peripheral playing path; (b) Said playing path being divided into contiguous playing positions; (c) Each of said playing positions includes instructions for rolling combinations of polyhedral dice along with mathematical operation symbols (namely addition and subtraction) to determine the players' score for each turn. (d) Said polyhedral dice comprise a set of six dice: a four-sided die (tetrahedron) numbered 1 through 4, a six-sided die (cube or hexahedron) numbered 1 through 6, an eight-sided die (octahedron) numbered 1 through 8, a ten-sided die (pentagonal-trapezohedron) numbered 0 through 9 (where the number zero represents ten), a twelve-sided die (dodecahedron) numbered 1 through 12 and a twenty-sided die (icosahedron) numbered 1 through
 20. 2. For each space on the game board a number of the polyhedral dice (at least one) will be pictured along with at least one math operational symbol (addition or subtraction).
 3. A method of playing a board game; comprising the following steps: (a) Using standard six-sided die players will determine the number of spaces they advance on the game board. (b) Player rolls the combination of dice depicted on the space they land on and perform the mathematical operations necessary to determine the amount of points accumulated for each turn. Their overall score is adjusted by that amount of points in accordance with the instructions given on the game board. (c) Play proceeds as described above until a predetermined total amount of points is achieved. 